Chapter 1: Attrition

[Greybender]

Yuuko closes her eyes changing her expression to an open mouthed smile, she packs away her cookies and exclaims: " Awwwww youuu can transform too!" With that said, she lengthens her arms and extrudes tentacles out of her back, growing eyes in her hair and teeth on her forehead, her skin changes to take resemblance to that of a cat, with a gravelly growling voice, but soft with hints of a cat purring she continues with her mouth now extending to a meter and a half lenght:
"Nice to meet you Mauthe and Klaus I hope we can be good friends!"
She finishes her little show with a Cheshire cat grin, before returning to her normal self.
" I can do a lot of things, but arguably I am best at social infiltration.", she says with a smile and a wink.

[Clanjos]

"I am a Wilder unmatched! ...Before that dragon ripped me out of my skull and tossed me in this jar, anyway. NONETHELESS, WHILE SOME OF MY POWERS HAVE DIMINISHED, THE REST GROW STRONGER WITH EVERY DAY! Ahahaha! Ahahahaha! AHAHAHAHAHAHAaaaah! Ah, by the black sands I haven't had a maniacal laugh in weeks."

The brain began jiggling back and forth as it projected laughter, the armor beneath him gesticulating appropriately, calming quite quickly at the end of his declaration.

[Raineh Daze]

"I told you: I am a goddess and princess. There are no other valid descriptors... though I suppose a demonstration of my tricks is in order, then?" Natsumi asked, face breaking into a terrifying grin. She was the more sane sister indeed... but a perusal of the full stock of her abilities indicated that she couldn't be entirely stable. Few people would willingly chip away at their own life in order to gain a few new tricks.

The goddess snapped shut her fans... and disappeared, reappearing upon the other side of the pool, perched exactly on its edge. A slight shift in how she held herself followed; three whirling rings of fiery script sparked into existence around her, spinning to an unheard rhythm and accompanied by a thunderous proclamation: "Fate--Old Immortal Fire!"

Apparently not content to stop there, one of the goddess's hands went to her throat, whilst the other pointed itself at the ceiling: "Brilliant Dragon Bullet!"

The white cone this created was almost blinding in its intensity; though it strangely didn't harm the ceiling. Any tiny vermin clinging to it were doubtless toasted, however, with the dragonbreath--not fire, but something close--burning across them.

"Heheh...ehehehahah...hahahafufufufu...fufufufufu!"

Breathing deeply, Natsumi asked one question: "Satisfied?"

[Geigan]

Mauthe manages to balance on the Pit Fiend's shoulder despite the shift downwards. He then extends one of his other tentacles to shake one of Yuuko's before she transforms back to acknowledge her sentiments, and then follows suit in returning to his other form.

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That is indeed a brain in a jar. I don't think I can smell it through the tank so it should be fine. Anyway, rulers always make sure to appear as if they know more than they do. It's just good image. How much he actually knows is still probably quite a bit however. If he knows of our affiliations then I'm surprised we are not already dead like I said, but I think these developments might mean we are investments of sorts that are worth enough perhaps that he can afford loyalty risks. He could of course just not know, or think he can manipulate us into doing exactly what he wants also. Several possibilities, all trouble, though no use worrying until we know more about our situation.

He waits patiently for Natsumi's booming show of strength to finish resounding before listing off his own capabilities.

"Physical infiltration, espionage, stealth, scouting, assassination, interrogation, torture, shadowing though not so much tracking, theft, acquisition, and a bit more of that sort of thing. I can also see in the dark, can sense anything with a mind in a certain range, and can smell too well for my own tastes."

He goes back to habitually scratching at his ear.

[Kuroimaken]

Lovely. The party has a portable lighter.

"I am sole heir to an assassination martial arts style with over 4800 years of history. Its name is Hokuto Sourai Ken. Disclosing its full capabilities would take much longer than we have available - but suffice it to say any opponent struck by me dies in a violent fashion."

As if suddenly bored, Yan picked a sizable rock off the ground and proceed to write on it with his index fingertip.

[ariasderros]

"I hide. From my hiding, I hurt things with arrows. Those who find themselves on the receiving end of my assault are often scared by the experience. If I really put forth the effort, I hurt things badly enough though, that there usually isn't much left to be frightened."

[Endarire]

Imagine a beefy, fat, and jolly middle-aged human male with orange hair (plus a goatee and a beard), a white apron with 'Master Chef' written upon it in Common, and lots of mithril armor.   That's Chef.

Chef finishes surveying the crowd, the chair, the pool, the room, and the fire spray.

Chef uncrosses his arms and says, "Call me 'Chef.'  I'm the creator of the 'Fire Chef' competition and am its longest-reigning champion.  So much in life can be seen through the lens of cooking!

I'm practical even when meal preparation isn't first on the menu:  I'm a handyman as well, able to make a home anywhere, given time.

And for reasons beyond my comprehension, my archenemies are the ghosts!  I don't mean any organization, but literal, actual ghosts!  And I'm so grateful to the God-King for his awakening or granting me my anti-ghost powers!

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(Chef's Mindsight is active.  Does he detect any creatures beyond our party?  If so, what?

Also, what Knowledge skill covers IDing the matte black goo?)

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Please change your text style.  It's difficult to read and hurts my eyes!

[sirpercival]

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(Chef's Mindsight is active.  Does he detect any creatures beyond our party?  If so, what?

Also, what Knowledge skill covers IDing the matte black goo?)

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Nothing beyond the party at the moment.  What's the range on his telepathy?

Also, Knowledge (Arcana), but there's a 0% chance that you would have encountered it before.

[Endarire]

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100' telepathy right now.  Also, I thought Knowledge checks were representative of what you can figure out on the fly, not just memories.  If I can try to ID it now, I'll take 10 for a total of 25 Knowledge: Arcana.

[sirpercival]

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100' telepathy right now.  Also, I thought Knowledge checks were representative of what you can figure out on the fly, not just memories.  If I can try to ID it now, I'll take 10 for a total of 25 Knowledge: Arcana.

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OK, thanks.

And, that gets you enough to realize that the "liquid" is actually made up of minuscule solid spheres of some material.

[Geigan]

Mauthe hops down from Klaus' shoulder and wanders closer to the pool for a closer look.

(Looking into the dark pool to see what I can see with Daigo darkvision. Apparently it can see through any darkness regardless if it's magical or not. 60ft range.)

[Endarire]

Chef also gets a closer inspection of the pool due to being able to see in magical darkness and with see invisibility and Darkvision 60'.

[Valixes]

Klaus lifts himself back to a standing position - each motion leaving the impression of great weight as he raises a hand, twirling a bit of bloody red hellfire among his claws. "My armor gives me an insane resilience against anything I'm not exclusively weak to, but I like to think of myself as a Jack of all trades. I have a decent grasp of esoteric energies to pepper opponents with various effects, and my devotion has granted me certain boons that I protect myself with. My body is strong - although my strikes do not have the same mastery many of you have obtained. I have a fair amount of various undead tucked away that we may... make use of as well."

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Perhaps it is an investment. Perhaps, he seeks to seed the underworld of this country with those more interested in its success - dependable pawns to go where he cannot.
Let's assume the worst, for now. He knows, he hates, he'll use us, he'll kill us.

[sirpercival]

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The same minds which escorted you down here arrive in the hallway, and approach.

There's a booming knock on the door, and then it swings open to reveal the guards, accompanied by the God-king.  He steps into the room and frowns, then raises a hand, and the ambient light in the room increases to a warm gold.

Then Singorn turns to the group, his face impassive as his gaze passes over each of you in turn.  It lingers particularly long on Klaus and Mauthe, but he doesn't comment before moving up to sit in the stone chair.

Finally, he speaks.  "It is always in the times of greatest difficulty that one finds oneself with unlikely allies.

Never mind; my plea to you is the same.  My apologies for keeping you waiting -- I hope you understand, this is a complicated endeavor on all fronts. Before we begin, I must ask what information you already have about the events which have been named the Shadow War; I would not waste time repeating things you already know."

[Kuroimaken]

"Next to nothing." The monk summarizes.

[sirpercival]

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Whoops, forgot.

So, everyone knows the stuff that's in the Campaign Setting post.  In addition, you can make Knowledge (Local) and/or (Geography) checks to know more stuff.

Anyone attempting to hide a connection to the Brotherhood should make a Bluff check.

[Raineh Daze]

"I know little, I must admit. My strengths lie in nobility and religion rather than current affairs," Natsumi said, shrugging. She'd picked up bits and pieces travelling with her sister--but only the most basic information, nothing concrete. Peasantry and travellers rarely had detailed knowledge of the goings-on in a far off desert kingdom. 'Shadowy attacks' were... inconclusive.

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Knowledge (Local): 1d20+2=22, Knowledge (Geography): 1d20+2=14, both untrained checks. Anything extra come out of that?

[Clanjos]

"I, Mentak, THE MAGNIFICENT, have fallen behind on local news and global affairs in the time I've been a brain in a jar trapped in a cathedral."

Nevertheless, Mentak detached his jar from the suit of armor and floated at eye level. The cuirass fell down to reveal a skeleton in the armor, which quickly donned a plate helmet.

[ariasderros]

"Monsterous attacks in the southern areas of your kingdom. Presumably severe in nature. No more than that can I really say I know of."

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sorry about that, I'll try this, maybe play with it a bit. Basically, his voice is soft. Kind of sotto, despite the actual volume he speaks. When I think of him talking, I imagine how spirits / ghosts are often portrayed as speaking. Like Nostro, from here, start at 4:32 to hear him.

[Geigan]

"Well it is an event certainly, but I presume there is something specific you would bring up in reference to it. It may serve to just start from what is relevant to what you need of us."

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Bluff for the Brotherhood connection

Rolled 1d20+12 : 10 + 12, total 22

Knowledge(Local)

Rolled 1d20+14 : 11 + 14, total 25